Premium
Microtrap interface for on‐line mass spectrometric monitoring of air emissions
Author(s) -
Mitra Somenath,
Feng Chaohua,
Zhang Lizhong,
Ho Wenpin,
McAllister Gary
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9888(199905)34:5<478::aid-jms788>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , thermal desorption , sorbent , sampling (signal processing) , incineration , pollutant , analytical chemistry (journal) , interface (matter) , desorption , environmental chemistry , waste management , adsorption , chromatography , organic chemistry , telecommunications , computer science , engineering , gibbs isotherm , detector
One of the problems in on‐line mass spectrometric monitoringof air emissions is that whereas organic pollutants are present attrace concentrations (ppm to ppt levels), background gasessuch as H 2 O and CO 2 may be present at per centlevels. Moisture in particular is a source of serious interference. Asampling interface that eliminates these interferences but allows thecontinuous introduction of organics into the mass spectrometer ispresented. The interface consists of a micro‐sorbent trap(referred to as the microtrap) that selectively traps theorganics, and then injects them into the mass spectrometer via rapidthermal desorption with an electric pulse of ∽1 s duration.Continuous (or near‐continuous) monitoring isachieved by making a series of desorptions while the air flowscontinuously through the system. The applicability of this approachis demonstrated by monitoring the emissions from a catalyticincinerator. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.